Local Government

Gov. Rick Snyder signed off on a bill that will causes significant changes to the retirement plans for all new teachers and school employees hired after February 1, 2018. The collaborative billed compiled by Michigan’s House and Senate will automatically enroll all new school employees into the program starting next winter. The plans will have school districts pay 4 percent of the employee’s salary into their 401 (k) plan. New employees may also contribute their personal funds and the state would match their addition by 3 percent. University of Michigan-Flint teaching major Alicia Williams believes the changes are for the better.

Dispensary owners and Lansing residents have been disputing a recent medical marijuana ordinance during biweekly City Council meetings. Some people in Lansing believe the flooded medical marijuana market results from poor marijuana dispensary regulations. “The purpose of the ordinance is to have realistic dispensaries available to people that really have a medical marijuana need,” said Marylin Ebaugh, resident of South Lansing. “What we have now is an over abundance of businesses.” A study conducted by Melissa Huber, Ph.D, estimates the number of patients spiked from 937 in 2011, to 2,866 in 2015. Some believe the process to obtain a medical marijuana card can be easily abused.

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — Human Rights commissioners of Traverse City are allegedly looking to make the northwestern Michigan city more “immigrant-friendly.” One way of doing so would be to declare sanctuary status, or making TC known as a “Welcoming City.”

“There are jobs in Northern Michigan that need immigrants to take them,” says Mark Dixon, who has been a citizen of Traverse City for over 60 years. “Faming here, especially with the abundance of cherry crops, attracts a lot of immigrants, as well as some jobs at Munson, the local hospital.”

“This had never been an issue before (President Donald) Trump’s presidency,” says Dixon. “I think this is because he initially campaigned with restrictions to countries like Mexico by ‘building a wall’ across the border.”

Early in Trump’s presidency, an executive order attempted to withhold federal grants to sanctuary cities. However, at the end of April, a federal judge in San Francisco put a nationwide end to this.

Bullying and Suicide is has become a major problem in schools across the country. Over four thousand kids commit suicide every year and unfortunately Detroit teen Billy Watts Jr. is one of them. “I got a call at work about him and they just said he was missing at first, so i decided to go on his Instagram page,” said friend of Billy Jazlyn Dixon.

It was on Instagram where Billy posted pictures giving clues that he wanted to take his own life. Friends of Billy describe him as being a deep thinker and for Jazln Dixon she says his suicide could have been prevented if someone would have just listened to him. “It’s something that could have been prevented if we would have took what he said more seriously.”

By LAINA STEBBINS Capital News Service LANSING — Proposed increases to Gov. Rick Snyder’s recommended budget for revenue sharing marks a welcome shift for cities, villages, townships and counties, which say they have not seen this part of their funding … Continue reading →

Sarah Pete has lived in the Delhi Manor community with her family for over two years and says that about every day people will come by and throw their trash on the curbs and keep going without thinking about what they have done. “Most of the trash cans stay full because there are lots of people in one household so sometimes their trash may pile over on the ground because it cannot fit into the trash cans.I think that when outsiders come to the neighborhood they think that the trash looks that way it does because we do not care so they just add to it,” said Pete. Jeff McKinney, Delhi Manor leasing office manager, says that this has been an ongoing issue and that he and his staff have taken action to prevent people from throwing their trash on their ground but people just do not care now days. “About a month back, my staff and I posted flyers in the neighborhood about making sure that trash goes into the trash cans and we did not have an issue for some time then all of a sudden it started again,” said McKinney. Roger Jackson, a Delhi Manor staffer, says that the trash does not come from those in the community.

When you are standing on the steps of the Michigan State Capitol located in Lansing, you might also be standing on a piece of land that used to belong to Lansing Charter Township 170 years ago, according to the Michigan State Capitol Directory. “What is traditionally known as Lansing now was Lansing Township,” Lansing Township Supervisor Dion’trae Hayes said. “If you go back and you look at your history where the capital building was located, Lansing Township had a huge mass of land that over the years has been annexed by the City of Lansing and has been annexed by the City of East Lansing.”

What remains of the township after years of annexation is five contiguous locations, according to the township’s website. The largest section of the township being on the west side of the Greater Lansing area, one section on the southeast side of the region and three on the east side, according to the Charter Township of Lansing’s zoning maps. In order to avoid future annexation, the township has taken the necessary precautions.

Plastic bag in hand, Bruce Palmar of Lansing Township walks about a mile a day from Michigan Avenue to Saginaw Highway to pick up cans and various items he finds along the way. “From Michigan Avenue to Saginaw Highway I walk and I clean all that stuff out and people quit throwing that stuff in there,” Bruce Palmar said. Trina Palmar who is Bruce Palmar’s wife said once they began to play an active role in their neighborhood, others joined in. “We started it and everyone in the neighborhood kind of got the idea and they started doing it a little bit more,” Trina Palmar said. Bruce and Trina Palmar have lived in the township since 2007 and became active members in improving their community and would like to see it flourish.

It is official; the Lansing City Council has unanimously voted and declared Lansing a sanctuary city. Prior to the meeting on April 3 where the vote took place, Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero released an executive order that clarified policies in place for city officials and law enforcement to more effectively protect immigrant and refugees in the community. In Bernero’s executive order, he stated the following:

“We are confident these new policies do not violate federal law, but we are also prepared to take legal action to protect the prerogatives and powers of local government and local law enforcement,” Bernero said. “We do not want our local police to become de facto immigration agents— especially under the divisive and draconian direction of the Trump administration.”

The council agreed. “I think is one time that the city of Lansing has got it right; we are aligned and I think this addressed all the things we are getting in our emails, within our phone calls, within our conversations,” Council Member Judi Brown Clarke said at the meeting Monday.

In Case You Missed It

Summertime poses as the perfect opportunity for students to make and earn money for the up-and-coming school year but with more and more summer internships failing to offer compensation for their time students can struggle to make ends meet. “When I first got my internship I was so excited,” said Michigan State University pre-med student Ali Beydoun, “then found out it was unpaid and I got a little worried.